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Jincheng JC400

Tips for riding to Turkana
19 February 2021
First bike, Dayun Dash 5
18 March 2021
 
By Frankline Wamere Ogutu

Having owned a jincheng jc250 for almost a year, a couple of circumstances have forced me to rethink on the type of bike I should ride next.

A fter the duration, extensively riding the bike, testing it strengths and limits, I came to the conclusion that I needed an upgrade, with a bike that fitted the following dimensions: A bike that has an upright sitting position and one that was comfortable for the rider to cover long long distances. Top on the list was the benelli trk502 and the jincheng jc400

As a result, I embarked on a process of sampling the above mentioned bikes, to determine which one fitted the parameters mentioned above. First on my list was the jincheng jc400, hence the long post....

 

bike's specifications

The bike is classified as an adventure touring / dual sport bike hence it is designed for both onroad and off-road use. The bike comes with a 400cc, carburated , double cylinder with a five speed manual gear box.

It also has a disk braking system with the hand wheel having a single disk braking system and the front wheel having a double disk braking system. The bike comes with nylon tyres of dimensions 110/ 70 - 17 for the front tyre and 150/ 70 - 17.

The bike has a fuel capacity of 20 litres which means that with a full tank, the bike will cover plenty of miles during your adventures around the country without any need of refueling the bike.

 

aesthetics

At a glance, the bikes looks impress the eye, since the bike has a double cylinder engine, the exhaust note when you rev the bike will make you fall more in love with the bike. The bike looks big in size, and when you attach the side panniers to the bike, the bike becomes monstrous, a look that will help you intimidate cagers on our roads without a doubt and pull lots of crowds and attention whenever you park the motorbike.

The only issue with the bike is that, like other jincheng models, the bike comes only in one color and like me, many riders wouldn't love the orange color of the bike. But there is always the option of repainting the bike to a color of your choice.

It also comes with a digital/analog instrument cluster with an analog rpm counter while the rest of the display being digital. The instrument cluster shows a tonne of information such as the bikes speed, fuel indicator, gear counter et al.

 

performance

The bike performed beyond my expectations. I achieved a top speed of 168kmph on the bike which was quite impressive. The bikes engine delivered incredible torque and power as compared to the JC350.

Despite lacking an ABS enabled braking system, the double disk front and single disk hind brakes managed to stop the bike even at high speeds without a glitch. It is however confirmed that the next shipment of bikes will come with ABS which is a win for most riders.

The bike comes with a liquid cooled engine, and for the entire duration I rode the bike, the cooling system only kicked in once for a short duration before reducing the engine's temperatures to an optimal temperatures . This means that the manufacturer of the bike not only majored on the bike aesthetics but also factored in on how air moving around the engine could cool the engine to optimal temperatures without the need of engaging the liquid cooling system.

 

The bike handles corners like a charm. The bikes handle bars are designed to offer a wider turn radius which reduces the need of leaning too much when cornering but incase you are one of those people who love leaning, the wide hind tyre of dimensions 150/ 70 - 17 will ensure you tackle those tight corners through leaning without worrying about dropping the bike.

With traffic jams within Nairobi country, and the bikes huge size and weight especially when the bike has the side paniers, one might have to rethink about using the bike for daily commute, but when stripped down to the bare essentials, the bike can easily navigate through the city's terrible traffic jams.

parting shot

Assuming that I am impressed by the Benelli's 502 performance but cant get the funds to buy the bike after the surge in bike prices courtesy of the taxman, I will have no other choice but to buy the Jincheng jc400.

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